Volcanoes to Dragons

The entire region of Armenia was known for its erupting volcanoes, well documented by the Hittites, Akkadians and Urartians, in nearly each century from as far back as c2600 BC. The environment in which the dragon stele were created was one which had seen many earthquakes and whose volcanoes still smoked, from whence the legends were created about how the 7 headed dragons could be heard every 40-50 years and whose tail could be seen for 5-10 days every 70 to 80 years. The volcanoes were viewed as the actual dragons, a concept that is further explored by Dr. Kavoukjian (1987) when he analyzes the creation of a deity that is known to both personify and kill dragons, respectively. This deity was known as Vahagn.

Birth of Vahagn:

The skies were in labour
The earth was in labour,
And so was the crimson sea.
And in the sea a small red reed
Was also in labour.

And out of the reed came smoke
And out of the smoke came flames,
And from the flames dashed forth
A blond youth
With fiery hair,
And a flaming beard,
And his eyes were two blazing suns!